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Reader Participation Day: So, How Was Your Most Recent National Park Visit?

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Was your latest national park visit picture perfect? Rob Mutch photo of Phantom Island at Crater Lake National Park.

So, how was your latest visit to a national park? Were rangers present to answer your questions? How was the parking? Were the restrooms clean? We'd like to hear from you.

National Park Service officials take pride in the fact that their annual surveys reflect a 90-95 percent approval rating year after year after year. Would you score your national park experience that high? It's not hard to give the agency high grades, as most things in the parks seem to be fairly well managed. But there's always something to nitpick about.

Problem with lodgings? We've all stayed in rooms that were so small it was hard to change your mind and where the linens were a tad on the ratty side.

Were the trails well-maintained? Could rangers satisfactorily answer your questions? Were you surprised by the fees for some interpretive programs?

Bring it on, folks! Tell us how your visit was.

Comments

WAY TOO SHORT!!!


We've visited a great number of parks within the last year and a half. They are all wonderful and we've done some amazing things! Our most recent trip was to Texas. The highlight of my parks there was watching a turtle release at Pade Islands National Seashore. It was very special to watch these turtles make their trek to the ocean. We also went on a canoe trip in Big Thicket while visiting the Texas area. Very fun. As for rangers who stand out in my mind... last year we were in Boston and went to Minute Man. The ranger there who lead the Wayside House tour was the most passionate about his job of any ranger I've met. He knows his stuff and he shares the knowlegde passionately with the people on his tours. The Superintendent at Fort Larned in Kansas also was excellent. We arrived later than we had planned and got there shortly before closing. The Superintendent kept the buildings open for us to tour and actually reopened the visitor center for us so we could watch the movie and go through the museum. Above and beyond, for sure. I will say that of the 55+ parks we've visited this last year, all the rangers were outstanding with the exception of one. Not bad...


Since my visits have been of varied duration, I'll give my last three - most recent first. All were within the last month.

Point Reyes National Seashore. Stopped for a place to sit down and eat lunch (bought at a deli) and use the "facilities". I would say their new ones at the Bear Valley visitor center picnic area are extremely well maintained, they've got the new waterless urinals, and the Xcelerator driers are a nice touch. I'll walk across from the visitor center (which has its own older bathrooms) if I need to go.

I went to Muir Woods National Monument with relatives. I'm all for "sustainable agriculture" but the new snack bar concession only has that and the prices to reflect it. All I got was coffee for $2 which allowed me to get as many refills as I wanted. It was $7 for a hot dog (about double what the previous snack bar used to charge), which is more than I'd pay at a baseball game. If this is all that's ever going to be available, then I think the NPS might be in trouble with shouts of "elitism".

Yosemite is Yosemite - even with low water. My campground was visited daily by bears and one bear managed to score big when a neighbor's bear box didn't properly lock. Yosemite Falls is low on water, but Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall look pretty good. Personally I think Vernal Fall looks better when it's not peak flow - as a sheer curtain rather than as a raging waterfall. Tioga Road wasn't very crowded (parking at Olmstead point was easy enough). The Mist Trail was crowded, but worth facing all those people.


Rangers?

I still can't say enough about Shelton Johnson at Yosemite NP. I know he's currently on tour with Ken Burns promoting the new National Parks series on PBS, but I can't think of a better ambassador for the National Park Service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADoZHEszdY0


I spent a week at Acadia in July - I think it was one of the only sunny weeks they had all summer! It was wonderful! This was my 1st solo RV trip and Acadia was an excellent destination. The Island Explorer bus made things very easy! I camped out at Blackwoods and would take the bus into Bar Harbor daily and go from there. I took advantage of a number of ranger programs and learned a lot about the island. There was plenty of parking at the visitor center for my RV, in fact a few days I drove my RV out to the VC to charge it's batteries, it was much easier than parking in Bar Harbor and I could get back to Blackwoods via the Park Loop Road!

The ranger at the information station off the Village Green in Bar Harbor was especially helpful! I went in with questions one day and he chatted with me and gave me some suggestions for other activities. A few days later I had more questions and when I went back to ask them the ranger remembered me and asked how the other days had gone! :-)

I enjoyed both the "wilderness" aspect and the "civilized" aspect! One day I hiked to Penobscot and Sargent Mts and saw vistas that many Acadia visitors never see, but after my hike I was able to check my email and get in touch with friends on my phone in Bar Harbor!

Acadia is truly the best of all worlds! Looking forward to returning someday!


I have to give a shout out to our historical parks. My most recent visit was to Harpers Ferry. The facilities were clean and well kept. The shuttle bus had a great audio program that provided interesting information on our ride to the downtown area. I went on a two hour ranger-led hike that not only featured a ton of information but beautiful scenery as well. As always, the rangers were super-friendly and helpful. The park always has interesting events going on--when I was there they had re-enactors camping out and wandering the town--truly making for a "time travel" atmosphere. Every time I've visited there I've had a great experience--and I will go back again.


My most recent visit was to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument and Lake Meredith NRA, both just outside of Amarillo, TX. I got the quarry tour at Alibates, which was fantastic and interesting. The biggest plus was that I hiked around that morning in my fleece jackets, which is really unusual for a Texas summer.


I went to a few parks in late June in the Maryland region. I spent a couple of days at Assateague Island National Seashore. I visited both the Virginia area as well as the Maryland portion. The restrooms in Maryland were open and as clean as possible with the volume of use. The restrooms in the Virginia section were actually in a visitor's center that seemed to be part of the National Wildlife Refuge system - but tidy and open. The entrance booth in both areas were occupied and offered maps. The bugs were bad - but I can't blame the NPS for that. Trails seemed maintained.

On the same trip, I visited Ft. McHenry in Baltimore and loved it. Rangers all around - bathrooms open. We also hit the Hampton Historic Site -- great tour from a volunteer (I believe) ranger.

Same trip I visited a few battlefields - Monocaccy, Bull Run and Antietam. All seemed to have rangers and resources available.

I ended this trip in Washington DC -- too many Park Service sites to list. I have to comment that I was surprised at the limited hours the last week in June. I never made it to the White House Visitor Center when it was open (closed at 4:00 pm on a Sunday). The restrooms near there (separate outbuilding closer to the White House) also were closed. I get it -- it's a Sunday -- but the number of people that I saw trying to find an open bathoom leads me to believe that they could stand some later hours. Many of the memorials can be greatly enjoyed at night (after official open hours) but I was concerned with 'open hours' so that I could hit a bathroom and get my passport stamped. In DC, I didn't see many rangers and those I did were surrounded by visitors wanting attention. I'm not sure you could actually ever hire enough rangers for DC in the summer.


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